Cerberus
is a recurrent boss in the Castlevania series. It is a large hellhound with three heads. It possesses an extraordinary jumping ability and can spew fireballs or a constant stream of fire. Origins In Greek mythology, Cerberos (in Greek Κέρβερος Kerberos, "demon of well") was the dog of Hades. He was a canine monster with three heads (although sometimes it's said that he had fifty or a hundred) and with a many-headed serpent in place of a tail. 's Divine Comedy. ]] Cerberos guarded the door of Hades and ensured that the dead did not leave and that the living could not enter. He was son of Echidna and Typhon, and the brother of Orthrus, a two-headed hellhound. The myth of a supernatural guard dog watching the gates of the underworld dates back to ancient Indo-European mythology. Other such watchdogs of the underworld include the bloodstained dog, Garmr, of Scandinavian mythology, who serves a role much akin to Cerberos, and their more benevolent cousins, the Welsh Cŵn Annwn, who were the spectral guard dogs of the paradise otherworld, Annwn. Concerning his name, it is unclear if there is an association with Cerbere (Naberius) from the Dictionnaire Infernal, although in 1583 Johann Weyer considered both of them to be the same demon. Appearances ''Castlevania: Bloodlines Cerberus appears in the same room in the Ruins of the Castle Dracula where the Giant Bat was fought in the original ''Castlevania. It only has one head in this game and is thus commonly unofficially referred to as "Hellhound". Its hind quarters are rotted away (much like those of the Behemoth). It can breathe flames, and when it howls, the glass in the background will shatter and fall, causing damage to the player. Early prototype versions of this game show a completely different sprite for this enemy which resembles the Behemoth instead (even having similar horns and losing skin and flesh as it receives damage). Its attacks are also slightly different in frequency and it also tries tackling the player. ''Castlevania: Dracula X Cerberus is the first boss in ''Dracula X. He starts the fight by howling and jumping into the screen. He will attempt to close into Richter's position thorough the course of the encounter and, after being hit or being too close, will jump back and spew a flame diagonally down that will traverse along the ground. He'll jump forward afterward. Faithful to some of the creature's classic descriptions, his tail resembles a serpent in this incarnation. Oddly enough, his howl resembles more that of a feline than a canine. ''Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Cerberus is the boss of the Abandoned Pit to the Catacomb. He has four main attacks: #Shoots a single fireball (35 ATT, Fire). #Shoots a series of eight fireballs (35 ATT, Fire). During this time, his heads will appear to be rotating on his body after shooting one fireball each. #Pounces on the player. #Sits and shoots a stream of fireballs (40 ATT, Fire). This will be done only if the player's position is higher than him. Cerberus can be easily defeated, though. For example, if Alucard brings either the Holy Water or Vibhuti sub-weapons and stands on top of a column, Cerberus will try to aim diagonally but most probably won't be able to do it properly and miss. Alucard may then just drop several flasks/ashes at him, dealing heavy damage. Note that while his fireballs are multicolored, all of them are Fire elemental attacks. Castlevania'' (N64) / Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness The player will be quickly ambushed by a pack of Cerberi as soon as they enter the Villa. These canines are very quick and agile, and some also have the ability to spew fireballs in a spreading manner. Castlevania 64= |-|Legacy of Darkness= Once the first wave has been dealt with, the gate that leads to the Villa's courtyard will open; at this point, another pack of Cerberi will leap over the fences and attack. Castlevania 64= |-|Legacy of Darkness= Once the second pack has been dealt with and when everything seems to calm down again, the sky will darken and the Ghost Cerberus will appear, who is more fierce and dangerous than its brethren and can unleash a large and continuous stream of flames upon his preys. Castlevania 64= |-|Legacy of Darkness= Exclusive to the original Castlevania 64 version, there's an invisible platform which can be climbed onto located to the right side of the level's starting point; from there, the player may have an easier time dealing with the pack, given they can use ranged attacks. ''Castlevania: Circle of the Moon Cerberus appears at the end of the Catacomb as the first boss in ''Circle of the Moon. This time he looks very similar to the Wargs from Symphony of the Night, but even if he appears to have only two heads in this portrayal, if one looks closely to his in-game sprite, a third ear can be seen on the upper part of his body, which most probably belongs to a third head. His attacks include: *Quick pouncing and biting. *Summoning two electrical spheres which hover high up and project bolts of lightning to the ground (an attack similar to the one used by Shaft in Rondo of Blood). *Leaping onto a platform and unleashing a devastating fiery beam which covers almost the entire room. The Double necklace can be found in the next room after defeating him. ''Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia While Cerberus himself doesn't appear in ''Order of Ecclesia, a set of three glyphs, called Custos, must be found in order to complete the game (each glyph representing one of his heads). Two of them are arm glyphs and the third is a back glyph (which works like a harmless version of Dominus Agony). Eventually, Shanoa will find a statue of Cerberus in the Forsaken Cloister and will make a comment about it, hinting that the player must find all three glyphs and use them in that room. Also, every time she absorbs one of these glyphs, she'll comment about returning to the statue. These glyphs are: *Dextro Custos *Sinestro Custos *Arma Custos Once she has found these three glyphs and used them on the statue, the path that leads to the Final Approach will reveal to her, allowing her to finally confront Dracula. ''Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night Item Data Gallery Dracula X - Cerberus - 01.png|'Keruberosu''' from the Japanese Dracula X instruction booklet C64e cerberus.gif|'Cerberus' from Castlevania (N64) CotM-01 Catacomb 23b.PNG|'Cerberus' from Circle of the Moon Dxc 090.png|'Cerberus'' enemy list entry from The Dracula X Chronicles version of Symphony of the Night Order of Ecclesia - Forsaken Cloister - 02.png|The Cerberus statue in Order of Ecclesia Kerberos Pachinko.png|'Kerbeross promotional render from ''Pachinko Kerberos Bio JP.png Trivia *Some names from the Japanese instruction booklet of Castlevania: Dracula X were poorly translated to English. The Japanese versions generally use the Greek spelling, which appears to have confused translators unfamiliar with it. As a result, Cerberus appears in the manual as "Keruberosu", along with other enemies and bosses which also appear with unorthodox translated names. See also *Carnivores *Cerberus (music theme) *Hellhound References Category:Animal-Type Enemies Category:Dictionnaire Infernal Demons Category:Fire Bosses Category:Greek Monsters Category:Bloodlines Bosses Category:Castlevania 64 Enemies Category:Circle of the Moon Bosses Category:Dracula X Bosses Category:Dracula X Chronicles Bosses Category:Legacy of Darkness Enemies Category:Pachinko Characters Category:Symphony of the Night Bosses